


Where the beasts are

by pandacheeze



Category: One Piece
Genre: AU mystical forest, Cora'd make such a sexy centaur, Gen, Size Difference, and of course Doffy'd be a kickass harpy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-23
Updated: 2017-09-23
Packaged: 2019-01-04 09:35:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12166263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pandacheeze/pseuds/pandacheeze
Summary: Tired of the winding paths between villages, Law tries a shortcut straight through Grand Line Forest. He gets chased by some man-eating harpies but a blond centaur helps save him. The creature's hospitality is admirable, and damn does he have the hottest body that Law's ever laid eyes on.





	Where the beasts are

 

"Fucking HELL!!" Law swears as he dodges another harpoon of sharp talons from above. He keeps sprinting forward, sticking to where the branches are low and the vines are thick. The dense greenery helps barricade him from the two harpies, preventing them from swooping down and tearing him to pieces. Although they cannot properly grab Law, the ruthless creatures attempt to spear him through every single opening among the foliage.

Okay, Law admits to himself that he should **not**  have entered Grand Line Forest. Yes, he was aware of the abnormally high concentration of man-eating hybrid monsters lurking in these bushes (this _is_ an enchanted forest, after all), but he was just so sick of riding carriages that rounded this forbidden forest as well as some lakes and hills for weeks. For once, he wanted to try cutting through the forest with a naive idea that if he traveled alone quietly then he wouldn't attract any attention.

Boy, was he wrong. Less than an hour since he stepped past the edge of the forest and all of a sudden Law heard this collective  _fufufu_ chuckling. When he felt a gust of wind from above, he looked up and was greeted by the matching grins of this half-avian pair who just landed on a branch directly above him. The busty female has green feathers and the cold eyes of a killer, but it's the other one that truly terrifies Law. He's the biggest male harpy that Law's ever seen, with a wingspan as wide as a house and inch-long talons that dig into the bark of its perch. The doctor would've laughed at those neon pink feathers if the creature's smile hadn't look so psychotic. Once it licked its lips hungrily, Law knew that was his cue to hightail it.

So currently Law is being chased by two carnivorous harpies, and it seems like the last of his luck has run out as the dense foliage clears out into open ground with sparse trees. With no barrier between them and the human anymore, the winged menaces instantly dive in for the kill. Law glances behind him, gets an eyeful of the male's outstretched talons, and shouts _Shit!_ before ducking his head. The large creature misses its target, gliding right over Law’s head. Aware that the second bird is right behind him, Law makes a sharp turn to the left, narrowly evading the talons of the green harpy.

Weighed down by his backpack of medical supplies, Law stumbles into a tree. He barely catches his breath before the pink figure is flying toward him again. Swiftly, he whirls to the other side of the tree, letting the black talons sink into the unfortunate trunk instead. A second too late and those lethal talons would have eviscerated Law's chest cavity.

Law doesn't get too far, though. One moment he's running like the wind, the next moment something from above slams into his backpack and pins him face-down on the ground. He cranes his neck back and sees his attacker, the female harpy, using her own weight to keep him in place. Behind her, the blond harpy finally manages to extract its talons from the tree trunk and heads toward them to finish Law off.

Trapped, Law does the only thing he can think of. Keep close to the ground and cover his head with his arms. At least his head won't be the first part ripped off. Hopefully.

But then there's a galloping noise from the direction beyond his head. The doctor fractionally lifts his face up and spots a horse's legs dashing toward to them. Big-boned with white socks up to its shins. When the horse jumps over his head, it's as if Law's seeing things in slow motion. First, the front legs leave the ground, exposing the steed's underside to Law, before the hind legs and tail disappear from his field of view, too. Somewhere above him, he hears the cacophonous cries of the female harpy as well as another masculine voice that Law doesn't recognize.

Freed from the bird bitch's grasp, Law turns over in time to see not a horse but a motherfucking _centaur_ ram into the male harpy mid-air, sending both brutes tumbling in a flurry of wings and hooves that resembles the legendary Pegasus.

Beside Law lies the crumpled form of the winged woman. She must have been knocked unconscious from such a collision with the heavy quadruped. This is Law's opportunity to flee the scene but frankly he doesn't even have the strength to stand up, so he merely watches the two half men, half beasts punch and maul each other.

Since the harpy's bird legs are longer than the centaur's arm length, the former seems to have the advantage. After exchanging a few more blows, the harpy successfully buries its talons into the middle of its opponent's chest, deep and painful enough to make the centaur drop to its knees. 

It's difficult to decide whether the centaur is Law's friend or another foe in this situation, but what he knows for sure is if the harpy wins, Law will be dead meat. With his own survival at stake, the doctor fumbles for the pocket knife strapped to his thigh and crawls to the passed out harpy. He hollers to her companion, "Hey, birdie!"

Hovering in the air with its other foot poised ready to strike the centaur's face, the blond harpy turns to his human prey, who has his knife against the female's neck.

"Let him go! Just take your friend and get the hell away from here," he orders the male harpy, receiving only an angry squawk in return. Law puts more pressure on the knife until blood wells from the nick, which proves to be sufficient incentive for the larger harpy to retract its talons from the centaur's chest and rush toward the human's direction instead.

Law scrams to safety behind some nearby bushes. Decelerating his flight a little, the male harpy collects its unconscious comrade with both feet before gaining altitude and zipping past the high canopy.

Once Law's absolutely positive that the bird man has flown faraway, he climbs out of the ruined bush, brushing the leaves and twigs out of his hair and clothes. He shuffles to the centaur, not entirely certain whether he should be even approaching the beast.

The centaur remains in his collapsed position. One hand clutches the bleeding puncture wounds, the other leans on the back of his horse part to keep his human torso somewhat upright.

"I... I'm a doctor," Law states, more than ready to skedaddle the opposite direction in case the blond lashes out at him. However, he merely looks up to acknowledge the human's presence.

"Can I see your wounds?" Law continues as he dares to take some steps closer to the injured creature, who has mesmerizing eyes the color of dark honey.

"No need to," the centaur replies, voice surprisingly deep. "I've been through worse than this."

He gestures to the expanse of his torso, bringing Law's attention to the fresh scars as well as discolored keloids. Teeth and claw marks litter his alabaster skin, testifying to how tough it is to stay alive in such a harsh environment. 

"You saved my life and got hurt because of me, so please, let me treat your chest."

The centaur stares at Law for a few seconds before pulling his bloody hand away from his injuries. The doctor puts down his backpack and takes out a wound care kit in order to assess the small yet very deep lesions. With arms akimbo, the blond watches Law disinfect and dress his wounds.

"Thanks again. For saving me," Law repeats.

"No problem," the centaur answers, straightening up to take some experimental sniffs at the human's hair.

"May I ask why did you do it? You're not going to eat me later, are you?"

"Ha, ha. No. I'm a vegetarian. You see, it's survival of the fittest in this forest. Every creature here is armed to the teeth, but you're not. You're merely a passer-by, someone outside the game. I just thought it was unfair for those harpies to pick on a defenseless human like you."

Law tapes a big gauze patch to the centaur's massive chest.

"Well, know that your decision to save one man today will in turn help save the lives of countless ailing people, though I'll have to find their village first. I have no idea where we are right now. Those birds chased me off the track that I was supposed to follow to Syrup Village."

The centaur taps his chin in a contemplative manner.

"I could escort you there if you want."

Law blinks incredulously.

"That's awfully kind of you, but why would you do that? You said it yourself that living here isn't a walk in the park. Wouldn't I be an extra burden for you?"

"Keeping you alive so you can help keep others alive is worthy enough of a cause. I eat, fight, and sleep wherever I want, so either I accompany you or go back to minding my own business, it wouldn't be that much of a difference for me."

The human looks at the centaur with grateful respect.

"If... If you insist... I _would_  appreciate your company and protection very much."

"Then you just got yourself a bodyguard," the blond affirms with a smile so brilliant that it has Law's lips tugging upwards, too.

"Wonderful. The name's Law by the way."

"Call me Cora," the other replies and moves to get up.

"Do you need help?" Law asks. He hasn't the slightest clue to how he can assist the huge mammal back on its hooves, but together they should be able to figure something out.

"Yeah. If you could just stand still like this..." Cora trails off, putting his hands on Law's shoulders and using them as leverage for rising up. With the added weight, the doctor feels his shoes dig into the soil while the centaur unfolds his legs one by one in order to heave the equine half of his body off the ground.

They were about the same height when Cora was lying on his belly, but now Law's head only reaches where Cora's abdomen transitions to chestnut fur. He's gigantic, even for a centaur, and his human torso is of a noticeably larger proportion than a normal person's. He seems to be part shire, a species of heavy-weight horses. Judging from how his hooves sink into the moist forest floor, Cora must weigh a solid ton.

Law lets his eyes linger on his new acquaintance's prominent eight-pack before dragging them up the rest of the muscled body to those fascinating orbs. 

"So... Which way do we go, Bodyguard-ya?"

Cora makes a sound that's more like whinnying than laughing at the moniker before pointing further into the dim and dark forest.

"Thatta'way."

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry, but I decided to cut this short as a one-shot.


End file.
